Animal People is a collection of nonfiction essays chronicling my experience working in the pet retail industry. The essays begin with my first day as a pet care associate at PetSmart and the essays include observations of rescue groups, interactions with kooky animal lovers, and my struggle to think and act rationally while combating (and sometimes enjoying) mental illness, specifically bipolar disorder. It is also an exploration of my childhood through various pets I had throughout my life.
The methods that I used when crafting this collection include hands-on experience as an employee at a major pet retail chain, experimenting with essay form, and by utilizing subtext. The critical text Crafting the Personal Essay, by Dinty W. Moore, was especially valuable in the exploration of form and structure. For subtext, my thesis advisor read the collection and offered questions and insight so that I could fully realize the potential of the emotional aspect of working with and caring for animals.
","abstract_html":"<p><em>Animal People</em> is a collection of nonfiction essays chronicling my experience working in the pet retail industry. The essays begin with my first day as a pet care associate at PetSmart and the essays include observations of rescue groups, interactions with kooky animal lovers, and my struggle to think and act rationally while combating (and sometimes enjoying) mental illness, specifically bipolar disorder. It is also an exploration of my childhood through various pets I had throughout my life.</p> <p>The methods that I used when crafting this collection include hands-on experience as an employee at a major pet retail chain, experimenting with essay form, and by utilizing subtext. The critical text <em>Crafting the Personal Essay</em>, by Dinty W. Moore, was especially valuable in the exploration of form and structure. For subtext, my thesis advisor read the collection and offered questions and insight so that I could fully realize the potential of the emotional aspect of working with and caring for animals.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Hamm, Mary Rachael"],"institution":"Eastern Kentucky University","degree_name":"Master of Fine Arts (MFA)","degree_level":"Master's","degree_discipline":"English and Theatre","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2014-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:15:25Z","subjects":["creative nonfiction","Nonfiction"],"languages":[],"rights":["Copyright 2014 Mary Rachael Hamm"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/266","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Hamm, Mary Rachael"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Encompass Digital Archive, Eastern Kentucky University"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Master Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["English and Theatre"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Master's"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Fine Arts (MFA)"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Eastern Kentucky University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["creative nonfiction","Nonfiction"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2014 Mary Rachael Hamm"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/266"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Animal People is a collection of nonfiction essays chronicling my experience working in the pet retail industry. The essays begin with my first day as a pet care associate at PetSmart and the essays include observations of rescue groups, interactions with kooky animal lovers, and my struggle to think and act rationally while combating (and sometimes enjoying) mental illness, specifically bipolar disorder. It is also an exploration of my childhood through various pets I had throughout my life.
The methods that I used when crafting this collection include hands-on experience as an employee at a major pet retail chain, experimenting with essay form, and by utilizing subtext. The critical text Crafting the Personal Essay, by Dinty W. Moore, was especially valuable in the exploration of form and structure. For subtext, my thesis advisor read the collection and offered questions and insight so that I could fully realize the potential of the emotional aspect of working with and caring for animals.
"]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:source","label":"Dc Source","values":["Encompass Digital Archive: Online Theses and Dissertations"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Animal People"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Hamm, Mary Rachael"],"dc:description.abstract":["Animal People is a collection of nonfiction essays chronicling my experience working in the pet retail industry. The essays begin with my first day as a pet care associate at PetSmart and the essays include observations of rescue groups, interactions with kooky animal lovers, and my struggle to think and act rationally while combating (and sometimes enjoying) mental illness, specifically bipolar disorder. It is also an exploration of my childhood through various pets I had throughout my life.
The methods that I used when crafting this collection include hands-on experience as an employee at a major pet retail chain, experimenting with essay form, and by utilizing subtext. The critical text Crafting the Personal Essay, by Dinty W. Moore, was especially valuable in the exploration of form and structure. For subtext, my thesis advisor read the collection and offered questions and insight so that I could fully realize the potential of the emotional aspect of working with and caring for animals.
"],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/266"],"dc:publisher":["Encompass Digital Archive, Eastern Kentucky University"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2014 Mary Rachael Hamm"],"dc:source":["Encompass Digital Archive: Online Theses and Dissertations"],"dc:subject":["creative nonfiction","Nonfiction"],"dc:title":["Animal People"],"dc:type":["Master Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["English and Theatre"],"thesis:degree_level":["Master's"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Fine Arts (MFA)"],"thesis:institution_name":["Eastern Kentucky University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:15:25Z"}